Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Hey all sorry for the lack of posting lately! Here is an awesome video that Youth Pastor Danny Bowers of Mission Hills church shot for us at last weeks FCA at Mission Viejo High School! God continues to work and His grace is present all over the high school campuses!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

FCA's annual outreach event Night of Champions is coming. Join us on Friday evening February 10th for a night of fun, food (as always, free In-N-Out), entertainment and Jesus. More info to come but get the date on your calendar now, you don't want to miss this!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

My friend and former teammate USC quarterback Matt Barkley recently had the opportunity to record his "I am Second" testimony. Check it out, He is a solid young man sold out for Christ and grounded firmly in His love!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

245 students showed up for the last FCA Huddle at Ediosn High School last week! The room was packed and the student leaders have done a great job reaching out to their campus! It was "FV Nerd Day" on campus in honor of the Bell Game the following night, so everyone was dressed up and having a great time! The leaders led a great game of "sit down if" and then student leaders Bri Emerzian got up and shared about her relationship with Jesus! She shared about how becoming a Christian does not always make things easier, but it provides a Rock and a Hope! Also, thanks to all the parents and youth pastors who came to support and serve at the huddle!

About 65 students filled into room I-5 last week to hang out at HBHS FCA. We were blessed to have pizza and drinks provided by Hope Chapel, as well as the support of many other parents and youth pastors.The students led a fun Game and then Pastor Jim Gane from Crosspoint Baptist Church shared a message about the hope of Jesus. It was a great huddle!

Marina FCA last week was awesome, with about 65 students showing up to have fun and hear the word. After gorging themselves on pizza, the students watched as 4 of their peers competed in a game of "empty the tissue box" where the fastest person to pull all the sheets of paper of the box using only there elbows wins. Then the students had the opportunity to hear the word from Crosspoint Baptist Youth Pastor Nick Fisher. He shared about being strong in the Lord and the need of having a relationship with Him!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Making fun of Tim Tebow for his on-field performances is one thing, but piling on the Broncos quarterback when it comes to his outward displays of Christianity is another.

For the second week in a row, Tebow took taunting from rival fans. Oakland Raiders’ fans held signs that read “Welcome to Hell,” directed at Tebow during the pre-game warm-ups.

Last week, Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch mocked Tebow’s prayer pose, which became an internet craze known as Tebowing, after sacking the quarterback in the second quarter.

After I posted a blog about the “Tebowing” phenomenon, I was contacted by ESPN columnist Jemele Hill. She interviewed me about Stephen Tulloch openly mocking Tebow’s prayer pose. Since I had written about Tebow in my recent Sports In Focus article for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, she wondered what I thought about him being ridiculed for his faith.

She concluded her column by saying, “Prayer is a sacred component of any religion. Making fun of someone else’s spiritual connection is on par with ridiculing them about their family. You don’t have to be a Christian to get that, just someone who understands the concept of respect.”

Thankfully, she wasn’t the only sportswriter that opposes mocking someone’s faith.

AOL FanHouse columnist David Whitley wrote, “I believe Tulloch wasn’t trying to mock God. But this wasn’t your garden-variety NFL taunt. Unlike Ray Lewis’ pregame dance, kneeling in prayer is universally accepted as a religious expression. Perhaps the ultimate show of reverence and humility.”
Being mocked for one’s faith is nothing new. In fact, the best-known evidence of this was Jesus being mocked at the cross.

“And the soldiers led him away inside the palace, and they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. (Mark 15:16-20)

While many sermons and Bible writers discuss the physical suffering in this passage, it is the ridicule of Jesus that I want to focus on. The crucifiers saw Jesus as a joke. In fact, historians tells us that one of the things that people did in that day was taunt those who were mentally deficient. They teased and they mocked those who were considered the “village idiots.”

The soldiers who mocked Jesus treated him as the village idiot, a lunatic who in a deluded way thinks himself to be a King and whom the Jews also try to pass off as some threat to Caesar.

So how should Christian athletes respond when they are mocked or persecuted for their faith? While persecution is not something we should pursue, when evil is spoke against you for Christ’s sake, realize that it carries with it the blessing of God. Matthew 5:11 teaches, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” In fact, the next verse teaches there will be a great reward in heaven for those who are persecuted in this way.

Mocking or taunting is nothing new in sports or life. Make it your goal to glorify God when you score a touchdown or when you’re mocked for your faith. Nothing pleases the Lord more than an athlete or coach who desires to please Him with their attitude and actions regardless of the circumstances.

Monday, October 24, 2011

The 1st Sowers FCA of the year was a ton of fun, about 25 students showed up to hang out! We spent time playing some fun games and then heard a short message about God's Love. The students were challenged to invite their friends to come next time and find out about how much God loves them.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

EHS FCA blew up on Thursday with well over 220 students in attendance. The student leaders at Edison continue to do a great job reaching out and extending invitations to FCA and creating a fun and welcoming environment! Leaders Madison Strobel and Melissa Balding led the "Oreo Cookie Game" and 1 student completed it in what had to be a world record. The game consist of placeing an oreo on your forehead and then getting it into your mouth without using your hands, definitely an FCA favorite!

After the game leader Lisa Ross got up and spoke to her peers about Jesus! She shared about how each one of us has fallen short of God's glory and made mistakes, and for that we become spiritually dead...but through Jesus we are given life! It is always a great thing when a student can get up and share his/her heart with their peers!

Over 75 students showed up to participate in the second huddle of the year for HBHS FCA. We had a great time hanging out, eating pizza , playing games and hearing the Word from Pastor Eric Oleson (God's House). Student Leader CJ led the students in a modified version of Rock-Paper-Scissor called Bear-Flick-Chuck Norris. Leader Susannah Oleson then introduced her Father Eric and he taught the students about the importance of having a relationship with Jesus and why we really need Him!

It was a fun day at FCA and the leaders are very excited about what God has in store for the year!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Marina FCA was awesome yesterday! About 75 kids showed and were blessed by the words of Pastor Eric Nelson from Calvary Chapel Westgrove. After the leaders lead a game of Charades, Pastor Eric, brought the word and stayed with the FCA theme "Why:" The Cross. He shared about the importance and meaning of the cross and how it affects who we are.

It was a great huddle and we were so blessed by the group of parents who showed up to provide pizza and snacks for the students! Thank you to all who are praying and supporting the huddle at Marina HS!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Edison High School FCA had it's 1st meeting of the year today and over 180 students showed up to make it awesome! Everyone was excited and the leaders did a great job getting the word out to theirs peers. We also had 8 youth pastors represented from 4 different churches! SO cool to see the body of Christ working together!

We had a great meeting, with pizza and fresh baked cookie for all the students! After getting setttled in the students were welcomed by a group of leaders who shared about their different youth groups and then we jumped into the "Who am I" game. Then after the game FCA president Riley Mailman shared about FCA...he shared this verse from Ephesians with them...

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,18 may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

He shared with the students that hopefully throughout the year the students will come to grasp the LOVE that Jesus had for them! Here are some pictures from today...